The present disclosure relates generally to sports equipment. In particular, systems using locator tags to track sports equipment and associated users are described.
Outdoor enthusiasts frequently invest in expensive equipment to enjoy their sport(s) of choice. For example, people who ski or snowboard may spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on their equipment, which includes skis or a snow board and associated boots and bindings. At popular winter sports resorts, theft of this expensive equipment becomes an increasing possibility, especially for those times when the equipment owner needs to leave the equipment unattended, e.g. while eating, or going inside a lodge. Likewise, people who enjoy watersports such as skiing, surfing, windsurfing or parasailing may have to occasionally leave expensive equipment unattended. Still a further example, people who enjoy bicycling may spend thousands of dollars on their equipment and have to leave it unattended to a bicycle locking rack or facility while they go about their business. Thus, any system that can reduce the likelihood of theft by offering a deterrent while enhancing the likelihood of recovering stolen equipment would be useful.
In addition to theft, engaging in sports such as snow skiing, snowboarding, water skiing, surfing, windsurfing and parasailing poses inherent risks. In snow-bound country, skiers and snowboarders may inadvertently wander off-trail, be caught in an avalanche, or otherwise be incapacitated in a location that isn't immediately visible to anyone trying to locate the endangered skier or snowboarder. For watersports, the participant could be knocked unconscious or be caught in a current or tide that carries the participant away from shore support or boat assistance, and, if the current is sufficiently swift, quickly be swept beyond visual range of a rescue party. Thus, a system that can independently provide the user's location to rescuers is desirable.
A further need for users engaging in sports is to track their travels for logging, record keeping, and health-monitoring purposes. A system that can provide and historically store a continuously updated location as a user engages in sports activities provides useful data to the user for determining calories burned, level of strenuousness of a workout, and setting personal records with respect to speed, distance, time, etc. To further enhance a user's exercise experience, this data could be shared on social media sites to engage in friendly competition and obtain support and encouragement from friends and family. Thus, a system that can supply and record a continuously updated location of its user, and provide for historical review and sharing of the same, is desirable.
Known systems of theft deterrence and location tagging are not entirely satisfactory for the range of applications in which they are employed. For example, existing theft deterrent systems typically involve securing equipment to an immoveable object, such as a post, railing, or rack. Employment of such a system requires a separate locking device, adding to the amount of equipment that the user must carry. If the user forgets to bring the locking device or neglects to deploy it, the equipment is not secured, and is subject to theft. Moreover, conventional locking systems, if they are defeated by a thief, provide no way of tracking down and recovering the stolen equipment. Defeat of the conventional locking systems can leave the stolen equipment undamaged, retaining its resale value, and providing further incentive to theft. Known systems for location tagging suffer from similar deficiencies. Personal locator beacons are yet another piece of equipment that a user must remember to bring, and wear upon their person. The embedding of GPS tags in ski resort lift tickets helps to solve the problem of a user forgetting to bring a locator beacon. However, as the beacon or lift ticket is located on the user, it still offers no theft deterrence for the user's equipment.
As an alternative, smartphones such as the Apple iPhone® or devices running Android® can be equipped with location detection devices, and can run applications that provide historical location tracking for various purposes, including exercise and fitness. In addition, the location detection devices on smartphones can be configured to provide a location of the phone to a remote user to aid in locating and recovering the device. However, as with the personal locator beacons or GPS tags embedded in lift tickets mentioned above, to be useful for these purposes the smartphone must be carried on the user. When used in the sorts of damp or dusty environments encountered while engaging in biking, skiing, or watersports, the smartphone could potentially be rendered inoperable. Likewise, not being attached to the sports equipment, a smartphone offers no protection against theft of the equipment; in fact, the smartphone itself becomes an attractive target of theft, due to its value.
Thus, there exists a need for systems that improve upon and advance the design of both known anti-theft systems and location systems. Examples of new and useful tracking systems relevant to the needs existing in the field are discussed below.